Sausage Potato and Kale Soup (Zuppa Toscana)
on Oct 31, 2022, Updated Jul 03, 2024
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This sausage potato and kale soup often called Zuppa Toscana, is a hearty comfort food soup. Made with Italian sausage, potatoes, kale, and a flavorful creamy broth. It’s the perfect dinner for cold nights!
Craving more Italian inspired soups? Try my Italian wedding soup or lentil minestrone soup.
Why you’ll love it
Hearty soup – This is a stick to your bones kind of soup that feels like a complete meal. Between the Italian sausage, potatoes, kale, and creamy rich broth, you won’t be hungry an hour later.
Gluten-free – If you’re someone who follows a gluten-free diet, this is a great soup for you. Just be sure to check the sausage you’re using to make sure it’s gluten-free as well.
One pot dinner – This stovetop soup is not only easy to make, but everything cooks in one pot.
Inspired by the restaurant favorite soup – If you’ve ever been to the Olive Garden and had their Zuppa Toscana, this sausage potato and kale soup should taste reminiscent of it.
What is Zuppa Toscana?
Zuppa Toscana translates to Tuscan soup. Traditionally the soup is made with kale, cannellini beans, potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, toasted bread, and bacon.
In North American the soup was popularized by Olive Garden and is made without the bread, beans, celery and carrots and with the addition of sausage and cream. It’s quite a bit richer than the traditional Italian version.
Ingredients you’ll need
- Kale – red or green curly kale.
- Potatoes – I like to use Yukon gold potatoes in this soup because they’re creamy and don’t need to be peeled since their skin is so thin.
- Bacon – You could also use pancetta
- Italian sausage – I used spicy Italian sausage, but if you don’t want the heat sweet can be used.
- White onion
- Garlic
- Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes
- Low sodium chicken broth
- Cream
How to make sausage potato and kale soup
Brown the sausage and bacon – Brown and crumble the Italian sausage in the pot, then remove it onto a plate lined with paper towels to soak up any excess grease.
Add the cut up bacon to the pot and cook it until brown and crisp. Remove it onto the plate with the sausage and leave approximately a tablespoon of the grease in the pot.
Sauté the onion and potatoes – Add the onion, garlic, and potatoes to the bacon grease and season with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes. Sauté for about 6 minutes.
Add in the broth – Pour in the chicken broth and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to medium-low and let it simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 12-15 minutes.
Add in the kale and cream – Once the potatoes are tender, add in the chopped kale and pour in the cream. Stir everything together and let the soup simmer for another 5 minutes so the kale is tender. Taste for seasoning and serve with shredded parmesan cheese on top.
Storage and Reheating
The sausage potato and kale soup will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for several days. I don’t recommend freezing this soup because it contains dairy.
To reheat the soup, you can either put individual servings in the microwave or you can reheat it all in a pot on the stove. If reheating on the stove, bring it to a simmer stirring occasionally. Add additional seasoning if needed and serve topped with parmesan cheese.
Variations and substitutions
- Add orzo or another small shaped pasta to the soup.
- Use sweet Italian sausage instead of spicy.
- Replace the kale with baby spinach.
- Add a can of white beans.
- Make it low carb by swapping the potatoes with cauliflower florets.
- Replace the cream with canned full fat coconut milk.
- Make it lighter by substituting cream with half and half. Make it richer by adding another 1/4 cup of cream.
More Hearty Soup Recipes
- Chicken Gnocchi Soup
- Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
- Vegetarian Lasagna Soup
- Slow Cooker Creamy Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Ground Turkey and Vegetable Soup
Did you make this Sausage Potato and Kale Soup? I’d love if you’d leave a recipe rating and review below.
Sausage Potato and Kale Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound spicy Italian chicken sausage casings removed
- 4 slices bacon cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 cup diced white onion
- 3 cloves of garlic grated or minced
- 1 1/2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes unpeeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 6 cups curly kale stems removed and leaves chopped
- 3/4 cup cream
- Parmesan cheese for serving optional
Instructions
- Add the sausage to a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Crumble the sausage and let it cook until it’s no longer pink, about 6 minutes. Remove the sausage from the pot and onto a paper towel lined plate. Add the bacon to the pot and cook until browned and crisp, about 6 minutes. Remove the bacon onto the plate with the sausage. Leave about 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease in the pot.
- Add the onion, potatoes, garlic, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes to the pot. Sauté for about 6 minutes and then pour in the chicken broth. Bring it to a boil and then lower the heat to medium-low and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.
- Add the kale and cream to the soup and stir everything together. Let it cook for another 5 minutes or until the kale is tender. Taste for seasoning and serve topped with shredded parmesan cheese.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
